12/05/2012

Canadian kids return to Ticats and the latest on the stadium design

Footbal first, then stadium.

My story on the return of Jason Medeiros and Jordan Brescacin is an example of the Ticats doing a good job scouting Canadian kids - both were undrafted free agents - then developing them with their best interests at heart by allowing them to make their own decision regarding a return to school. Had Medeiros stayed last year, he likely would have played at some point (at least as a sixth man) given all the injuries the Ticats had.

The CFL should consider allowing teams to retain the rights of undrafted players they sign but then return to school. They'd have to cap it, obviously, but two players doesn't seem unreasonable. Both Brescacin and Medeiros, who likely would have attracted more interest after their All-Canadian campaigns in 2012, could have signed with any team after their seasons ended: the Ticats would have seen bupkus for their investment.

I've also included the latest from Emma Reilly on the stadium design as well the presentation the design firm made to council last night.

Mac's Jason Medeiros has re-signed with the Ticats

By Drew Edwards

After enjoying stellar seasons with their respective university
teams, Jordan Brescacin and Jason Medeiros are staying true to their
word and returning to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats.

The Windsor receiver and McMaster offensive lineman were signed as
free agents last spring and spent almost three months with the Ticats
before heading back to school, where both earned first-team all-Canadian
honours.

The moment their seasons ended — late October for Brescacin, after
the Vanier Cup loss for Medeiros — the Ticats re-signed them, adding
crucial Canadian talent to their roster. Both players have been scouted
extensively by Hamilton director of Canadian player development Drew
Allemang over the past two seasons.

“Canadian players generally take longer to develop, so it is a
process,” Allemang said. “We’ve been looking at these kids for quite
some time and checked in with them a lot this year.”

The 6-foot-2, 200-pound Brescacin led the country with 68 catches,
979 yards and eight scores and his 122.4 per game average ranked second
in the CIS. He also set Ontario University Athletics records for catches
in a single season and broke Andy Fantuz’s record for career receptions
with 192.

But more than the numbers, Allemang says the nature of Brescacin’s
game is what impressed him most in the four or five times he saw him in
action this season.

“He was a different player this year. He was very physical and worked
hard doing the little things that we were hoping he would work on,”
Allemang said. “It was a lot more difficult to get him on the ground
when he had the ball.”

Meanwhile, the 6-foot-4, 315-pound Medeiros helped Mac to its second
straight Vanier Cup appearance and said his experience with the Ticats —
both players practised with the Canadian Football League team until
mid-August — laid the groundwork for his stellar fifth season.

“The speed in the CFL is just so much faster — you’re playing against
linebackers who are crazy quick,” Medeiros said. “When I went back to
Mac, the game was a little slower.”

Both players were given the option by the Ticats to stay with the pro
club for the season but chose to return to school for academic and
athletic reasons. Allemang kept in touch via the occasional text message
and practice visit but otherwise kept a respectful distance.

“It was my decision to go back. We had an opportunity to win another
Vanier and I wanted to play my senior year with the guys that helped
change the Mac program,” Medeiros said.

The Ticats were one of the first teams to devote a front-office job
specifically to developing Canadian players and Allemang said the team
is happy to be patient with players — though the strategy is not without
its risks. Both players had to be released from their Ticat contracts
to return to the CIS and were free agents eligible to sign with any
club.

“There’s a certain level of trust with the player but both these kids
are exceptional people off the field. They committed to us and they
want to be Tiger-Cats,” Allemang said.

Medeiros, a Hamilton native who played his high school ball at St.
Thomas More, said he never considered signing elsewhere and is already
working out in preparation for training camp next June.

“I want to stay in Hamilton. I had an excellent experience with the
Ticats last season and I want another shot to make my hometown team,” he
said.

NOTES: The Toronto Argonauts have released linebacker Ejiro Kuale,
who played 50 regular-season games, four playoff games and a Grey Cup
game for Toronto over three seasons. He made 92 defensive tackles and 18
special-teams tackles over that time. They also added Canadian kicker Anthony Alix and American wide receiver Anthony Jackson.

New details are emerging about
Hamilton’s new Pan Am stadium — but not everyone likes what they
see.

Officials from Ontario Sports Solutions
(OSS), the consortium in charge of designing and building the new
stadium, attended Tuesday’s planning committee meeting to reveal
more details of the design. It was the first detailed look
councillors have had at the $119-million sports facility to be built
on the site of Ivor Wynne Stadium.

Robert Johnston, the principal for
stadium architectural firm Cannon Design and a member of the Ontario
Sports Solutions consortium, said the base of the stadium will be
constructed out of masonry — small-scale brick or concrete — as
an architectural nod to the houses that line the surrounding streets.
The upper portion of the stadium will be “light and airy,” with
exposed steel girders instead of an enclosed wall that would create a
visual barrier in the neighbourhood.

However, those exposed girders do not
meet the city’s urban design guidelines — and they didn’t
impress Councillor Terry Whitehead.

“People would rather look at a car
rather than the underneath of a car,” he said. “To me, a building
is completed when there’s a facade.”

OSS will have to satisfy the city’s
urban design guidelines before it can begranted a building permit.
Councillors will also have one last look at the design before it’s
ultimately approved — but since they delegated their authority to
city staff for privacy reasons, they won’t have any power to change
aspects of the design.

Reviews of the plans around the council
table were mixed Tuesday.

Councillor Lloyd Ferguson said the new
details exceeded his expectations.

“I was impressed. It was better than
I thought it would be,” he said.

But Councillors Brad Clark and Chad
Collins didn’t share Ferguson’s view. Clark said the new design
is a “glorified Ivor Wynne” that pales in comparison to the
mock-up of the west harbour stadium.

Collins said he’s concerned the
design will end up looking like a big-box store that ignores Ivor
Wynne’s rich history.

“It looks like it would fit in quite
nicely between a Payless Shoes and a Staples big- box store,” he
said.

Still, OSS says Hamiltonians will be
very proud of the facility..

“This is a stadium that is being done
with great care and great affection,” Johnston said. “The site is
a hugely important site in this city, so it’s not something you
look at frivolously.”

Johnston said since the stadium site is
in the middle of an existing neighbourhood, there’s no opportunity
to capitalize on an iconic, long-range profile for the structure —
such as the so-called “Bird’s Nest” national stadium in
Beijing, China.

“Everybody knows that image — but
where do you get that from? You get it from a big, big distance away.
As you get closer, it becomes a very different experience,”
Johnston said. “It’s strong and it’s very powerful — but we
didn’t want to overpower this neighbourhood. We wanted it to be
something that feels like it’s been there before.”

Kuale may be looking at NFL options - perhaps it was a mutual parting.

I wouldn't base any concerns about Mac linemen on that one game. Sewell was owned too. I think it was just one of those games where they started getting beat up and down the line of scrimmage and things just got worse and worse. Plus Laval played an exceptional game and has a very talented defense.

Re: stadium, it's not that bad in my opinion. I'd prefer some warmer colours for any brick/masonry, but you're never going to please everyone and a "signature" building can be just as controversial. I do have a couple of concerns with the design:
- The elevator shafts at either end of both stands... would they get in the way of any potential future expansion? (most likely stands would be added to the endzones, but why not maintain optimal flexibility? their placement seems odd to me)
- Exposed girders on the upper level are fine and many stadia have that (and cladding could be quite ugly too, but something could be added later). But how will they keep the pigeons and seagulls out of the concourses? Hopefully some kind of mesh will be installed, but it could be unappealing to the eye too.

I like both Medeiros & Brescacin. I think the upside for both young men is excellent. Say what you will about the front office's talent assessment & drafting etc, but they have a solid group of young Canadians to develop at OLine, DLine, and receiver now.

As far as Kuale, he's off to try the NFL so little chance he's on Hamilton's radar. Wouldn't want him in a TiCat uniform anyways. Mouthpiece, undisciplined, over rated. Agree they need to look to & plan for the future with respect to JJ & Markeith, but its not with Kuale.

I was very impressed with the play of Jordon Brescacin. He looks like he may be a real player, however I have concerns about Jason Medeiros. He was part of the line that let the Laval D have a field day in the Mac backfield at the Vanier Cup. Somebody needed to make a stand out there and support Quinlan but he had Rouge et Or in his face all night. Surprised that the Argonots released Kuale. I thought he was a high motor quality find. Maybe there were problems behind the scene. He did make the news with some of his brash statements. He should be of interest to the TC's as I think both Knowlton and Johnson's play has fallen off recently and there seems to be nagging injury problems (age) hampering them as of late.